I live in Cheshire, returning here after retiring and spending five years living in France. I have three grandchildren, and I am a member of the little-known group ‘grandparents in childcare’. These special days and sleepovers continue to be a source of great pleasure, if not a little hectic!
In the early days, our first granddaughter constantly asked me to tell her more of the tale of our rescue dog, Youps, and this eventually morphed into the rhyming story that it is today. There are lots of beautiful watercolours to illustrate the story, which have been done by my closest friend, Jeanette, from college days, who has agreed to continue to bring my books alive, should there happen to be more.
I was a Beaver Scout Leader in days gone by and had heaps of fun with a constant supply of twenty-four 6 to 8-year-old boys for an hour each week. I have also been a netball coach for almost 30 years, and have enjoyed being involved with many children, young people and adults at schools and in netball clubs in the Northwest. I have recently been tempted to return to a school environment on a part-time basis to teach games and a little practical science, after spending many years working in a variety of different laboratories.
I love my garden, I play canasta and crown green bowls, and I also go to a U3A French group once a week to learn far more of the language than I ever managed in France!
As this story is based on the truth, there are some photos of Youps on his Instagram account for you to see the real ‘him’ and to follow, if you like.
Username: rescue.youps.